Guatemala Human Rights Commission

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The Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA (GHRC) was founded in 1982 amid the turmoil and fear of Guatemala’s internal armed conflict. Founder Sr. Alice Zachmann, SSND, first traveled to Guatemala in 1975, and again in 1979, where she was struck by the incredible levels of poverty and discrimination among Guatemala’s peoples. Compelled to help, Sister Alice resigned from her parish ministry in Saint Paul, Minnesota and united with former Guatemala missionaries and Guatemalan refugees to begin their work. On September 20, 1982, GHRC received 501(c)3 status as a fully functioning non-profit organization.

The years 1982-1985 would prove the most critical for the young Commission. Massacres, death squads, disappearances, mass displacement, kidnapping, torture, and fear were common during the bloody internal armed conflict. As human rights violations drastically increased during these formative years, so did the work of GHRC, which continued to document and report on the situation on-the-ground, as well as advocate for victims of the repression to both the American public and the US government. Despite initial successes, GHRC efforts to influence US policy towards the region were impeded by a lack of interest by the US government; some members of Congress even remarked that GHRC reports could not possibly be true, as they were too horrendous to believe.

Nonetheless, GHRC continued to grow its base of grassroots support. In 1985 the Commission expanded its Board of Directors and added on a part-time fundraiser, who together began sending out urgent actions. That same year, GHRC received a significant grant to continue its advocacy, and the “Voiceless Speak” program was created to provide assistance for Guatemalans within the United States who are working toward peace and promoting respect for human rights in Guatemala.

In the late 1980s, GHRC began sponsoring speaking tours around the US and delegations to Guatemala, and in 1989 began publishing the bi-weekly Guatemala Human Rights UPDATE, which was produced until 2008. GHRC launched an active campaign for the release of Carmen Valenzuela, who was abducted in Guatemala for her human rights work; and pressed for in-depth investigations of the cases of Sister Dianna Ortiz, Myrna Mack, Meredith Larson of Peace Brigades, and many others.

In the early 1990s, GHRC sponsored a conference on the use of torture in Guatemala, and initiated what was to become a decades-long advocacy campaign to support Jennifer Harbury. The capture in 1992 of Jennifer’s husband Everardo Bámaca, a guerrilla commander, led Jennifer to partner with GHRC to form Coalition Missing and push the US government to declassify documents pertaining to Guatemala after 1954. Jennifer and GHRC finally won widespread interest when “60 Minutes” covered her story; ensuing publicity led to the revelation that members of Guatemalan armed forces murdered Everardo with help from a covert CIA program that funneled millions of dollars per year to the worst elements of the Guatemalan military. The program was eventually shut down.

Meanwhile, GHRC’s increased involvement in controversial cases began to incite serious threats against GHRC staff and associates, who would frequently receive intimidating messages. The situation came to a head in 1995 when GHRC’s office in Washington, DC was broken into in the wake of a death threat against a member of Coalition Missing. Jennifer Harbury, too, continued to be victim to a series of violent acts, which culminated in 1996 when her attorney’s car was firebombed and the windows of Jennifer’s apartment were shot out.

In Guatemala, the year 1996 brought the signing of the Peace Accords, which finally ended the bloody, 36-year long internal armed conflict. Yet contrary to GHRC’s hopes and expectations, the affirmation of the Peace Accords did not lead to immediate or significant change; human rights abuses, corruption, militarization, discrimination, and deeply rooted historic inequalities remained.

In response to this continuing violence, GHRC began the Puentes de Paz project in 1998 to support the needs of women in Guatemala by supporting psychologists to help with psychosocial support in the Ixcán region in northern Q’uiché. That same year, Sr. Dianna Ortiz, herself a survivor of torture in Guatemala, founded a new project at GHRC, the Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition (TASSC). Both projects eventually became independent and earned their own non-profit status.

In 2003 and 2004, GHRC participated in a series of delegations to monitor, prepare for, and observe Guatemala’s elections. In 2005, the For Women’s Right to Live program was founded to raise awareness about violence against women. GHRC also began to lead delegations focusing on this issue, which continue today. In partnership with other organizations, GHRC was able to effect the political will of Congress to pass House Resolution 100 in 2007, which addressed the over 3,000 killings of women in Guatemala between 2000 and 2007. Also with GHRC’s active support, Senate Resolution 178 was passed in 2008, which urged the United States to work with Guatemala to end femicide.

As attacks against human rights defenders continued to increase, GHRC started the Human Rights Defenders Program in 2007. Utilizing GHRC’s growing grassroots base, GHRC began sending out more urgent actions to provide directs support for activists who were threatened, attacked or assassinated.

Recognizing the problematic impacts of free trade agreements, GHRC joined the Stop CAFTA Coalition. After US and Central American governments passed the agreement, the Coalition collaborated on three annual monitoring reports to publicize the impact of free trade on communities in Central America. In 2008, GHRC initiated a new program looking at Immigration and Free Trade, which later shifted to focus more on the impact of migration on Guatemalan communities. With US immigrant rights coalitions, GHRC advocated for a just immigration policy reform, and denounced increasing raids and deportations. In the aftermath of a large-scale and highly publicized raid on a meat-packing plant in Postville, Iowa, GHRC sought support for those who had been jailed and deported.

Also in 2008, GHRC initiated a quarterly publication, El Quetzal, providing articles and analysis for the US public and international community. GHRC also participated in the Social Forum of the Americas in Guatemala City and collaborated on a presentation about the Merida Initiative and impacts of the militarization of the war on drugs.

From 2008 to 2011, GHRC worked to strengthen and expand partnerships with Guatemalan organizations and community leaders. GHRC increased the number of annual delegations to Guatemala, and expanded its grassroots outreach in the US through urgent actions, rallies, presentations, speaking tours and coalition work.

In 2011, GHRC opened an office in Guatemala City with a full-time staff person (which expanded to two the following year). In March 2011, GHRC became a petitionary organization in a case submitted to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to protect almost 800 Q’eqchi’ families that were violently evicted in the Polochic Valley. GHRC also spearheaded a campaign to deny US visas to war criminals and signed on to a letter calling for UN investigation into allegations that former General and then-presidential candidate Otto Pérez Molina was responsible for torture and crimes against humanity.

With the inauguration of President Perez Molina in 2012, and the return of a Guatemala that looks much like it did in the early 1980s, GHRC redoubled efforts to support Guatemalan partners and denounce human rights violations. The Commission also worked tirelessly to ensure the Congressional ban on US funding for the Guatemalan military remained in place.

GHRC continues to provide analysis, education, advocacy, and direct support for human rights defenders. Currently, the organization focuses on five thematic areas: militarization; truth, justice and historic memory; access to land and natural resources; women’s rights; and criminalization and impunity. GHRC also provides assistance to Guatemalans seeking asylum in the United States through the Commission’s asylum program.

Timeline –– Línea del tiempo

GHRC founder Alice Zachmann, SSND, resigns from her parish to dedicate herself to the work of her young non-profit. On September 20, GHRC receives its 501(c)3 status and opens at Catholic University.

1984:

GHRC participates in an international campaign on behalf of the disappeared in Guatemala.

1985:

GHRC expands its board of directors and adds on a part-time fundraiser. Together they begin producing urgent actions, leading to hundreds of letters to Guatemalan officials demanding respect for human rights.

1986, October – November:

GHRC conducts its first speaking tour, a tradition that continues today.

GHRC begins to support Sister Dianna Ortiz, an American nun who was working in Guatemala when she was abducted, tortured, and raped.

1992, November:

GHRC sponsors a three-day conference called: “Confronting the Heart of Darkness: An International Symposium on Torture in Guatemala.”

1995:

GHRC’s office is broken into and illegally searched. Violence and threats against human rights defenders continue to escalate.

1996:

GHRC’s project Coalition Missing spearheads the Declassification Campaign, through which over 200 NGOs call for the declassification of all US documents involving human rights violations in Guatemala. Documents released establish that the CIA payroll included perpetrators of serious violations.

1998, December:

The Peace Accords are signed in Guatemala, bringing an end to the long and bloody civil war. GHRC commits itself to monitoring the implementation of the Accords.

1997:

The Inter-American Court on Human Rights hears the case of Everardo Bamaca, husband of Jennifer Harbury. GHRC staff and board members fly to Costa Rica provide testimony about the case.

1998:

The Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition (TASSC) is founded by survivors of torture, including Sister Dianna Ortiz, as a program of GHRC. TASSC is now an independent organization.

1998:

GHRC begins Puentes de Paz to provide support to female war victims in Guatemala. Puentes de Paz, based in Playa Grande, Quiche, Guatemala, became independent and continues to provide support to women and local communities.

2001, April 26:

GHRC holds a bilingual service in commemoration of the 3rd anniversary of the assassination of Bishop Juan Gerardi, who was beaten to death two days after the publication of his report on the victims of the conflict.

2002:

Sister Alice Zachmann retires from GHRC after twenty years as its Director.

2005:

GHRC begins “For Women’s Right to Live” to end violence against women in Guatemala. GHRC has led eight delegations focusing on violence against women.

2007:

GHRC launches the Human Rights Defenders Program to raise awareness about increasing threats and attacks against activists and community leaders.

2007, May 1:

With GHRC’s active campaigning, the US House of Representatives passes Resolution 100, sponsored by Representative Hilda Ortiz, addressing the more than 3,000 killings of women in Guatemala since 2000.

2007, April:

GHRC and partner organizations participate in an international campaign to collect signatures to present to the Oscar Berger administration, requesting the prosecution of Rios Montt and others for genocide.

2008, October:

GHRC presents on a panel at the Social Forum of the Americas about the risks of Plan Merida.

2011, March:

GHRC becomes a petitioner in case of evicted communities in the Polochic Valley and, with an international coalition of organizations, achieves precautionary measures from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and six months of food aid for almost 800 families. The case is ongoing.

2011, May:

GHRC opens an office in Guatemala City.

2011, July:

GHRC, in coalition with Annie Bird of Rights Action and human rights lawyer Jennifer Harbury, files a complaint with the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture against then-presidential candidate Otto Pérez Molina.

2012, February:

GHRC organizes a congressional briefing focused on the militarization of citizen security in Guatemala.